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Cruise ship review: Princess Cruises' Star Princess

What's it like to sail on a Princess Cruises ship? USA TODAY's cruise review site, VacationCruisesInfo.com, offers a glimpse this week in an in-depth review of the line's Star Princess. At 65 pages, it's the

At 65 pages, it's the most extensive appraisal ever of the 2,600-passenger Star Princess to be posted online, and it includes more than 1,000 photos showing nearly every interior and exterior space of the ship.

Overall, the reviewer gave the vessel solid marks, noting the line offers a "consistent if conventional cruise experience" that will appeal to a wide audience. Just don't expect anything too avant-garde.

"In aiming for the broadest possible audience, the cruise line is anything but surprising—a Princess cruise is the antithesis of edgy," the reviewer notes. Still, dining on the Star Princess was "generally decent," service levels were "above average," and pool and deck areas were "extensive and appealing, kept spic and span."

The reviewer did gripe about sound leakage from the Princess Theater into a nearby cabin. "Light sleepers might want to pay careful attention to deck plans and cabin locations on this ship," the reviewer notes. The cabin decor, moreover, was "a bit bland."

Visit VacationCruisesInfo.com to view the full Star Princess review, which was written by one of the site's in-house, anonymous reviewers. As with all VacationCruisesInfo.com reviews, the reviewer traveled on the vessel incognito and at USA TODAY's expense.

Launched in October 2011, VacationCruisesInfo.com was designed in collaboration with Reviewed.com, a network of online review publications recently acquired by USA TODAY, and it's devoted to helping would-be cruisers find the perfect ship.

VacationCruisesInfo.com is the first cruise review site to use anonymous reviewers. Unlike reviewers at other sites, VacationCruisesInfo.com reviewers never will travel on free cruises provided by cruise lines, nor will they base their reviews on cruise line-arranged "preview" or "press" cruises for travel writers or any other sailing where their presence on a ship is known.